Record changing apparatus



Dec. 23, 1952 R. A. MULLANEY ETAL 2,622,885

RECORD CHANGING APPARATUS Fild Feb. 21, 1946 I 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 w "30 a RALPH A. MULLANEY TE I V /Z H snr fi STEGLICH 1 16 an 4:: E: /27 I'NVENTORS- I BYCYQV; n%mrw THEIR A rronnsvs Dec. 23, 1952 Filed Feb. 21, 1946 R. A. MULLANEY ET AL RECORD CHANGING APPARATUS 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 RALPH A. MULLANEY KURT EMDE HERBERT H. STEGUOH INVENTORS.

THEIR ATTORNEYS Dec. 23, 1952 R. A. MULLANEY EIAL 2,622,885

RECORD CHANGING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 21, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 N uw w m A 6W E u 5 N M E .WQ m .mH m 1 E Q A H 2m 1m Aum E RKH d .m M B Fig. 4

Dec. 23, 1952 R. A. MULLANEY EFAL 2,622,885

RECORD CHANGING APPARATUS 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 21, 1946 RALPH A. MULLANEY KURT Enos HERBERT H. STEGLICH VENTORS qlwzz.

THEIR ATTORNEYS Dec. 23, 1952 R. A. MULLANEY .ErAL 2,622,835

RECORD CHANGING APPARATUS 6 Sheefis-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 21, 1946 IgESNTORS .m

' RALPH A. MULLANEY Kunr E MDE HERBERT H. STEGLICH THEIR ATTORNEYS D 9 1952 R; A. MULLANEY ETAL I 2,622,885

RECORD CHANGING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 21, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Fig. 7

Fig. /4

RALPH A. MULLANEY Ht //3 KURT EMDE HERBERT Srssucn INVENTORS. 6 win X 27 M 1 THEIR Arron/vars Patented Dec. 23, 1952 RECORD CHANGING APPARATUS Ralph A. Mullaney, Elmwcod Park, Kurt Emde, Itasca, and Herbert H. Steglich, Wilmette, Ill., assignors to Zenith Radio Corporation, a corperation of lllinois V Application February 21, 1946, Serial No. 649,146

8 Claims. (Cl. 274-19) The present invention relates to automatic recs 0rd changers broadly and particularly to auto matic record changers arranged to play either one or both sides of a record according to the wish of the operator.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved fully automatic record playing and changing apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved automatic record playing and changing apparatus which will play a series of single face and/or successively play both sides of a series of double face records and/or one side of a series of double face records.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved automatic record playing and changing apparatus, adapted to play single and double face records, respectively, of diiferent diameters, stacked in any order of size.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved compact inexpensive record changer forplaying both sides of a record.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved record changer of the type in which records are fed by gravity to a turntable and in which a record is rotated in an intermediate position between the record stack supporting means and turntable to allow playing of the underside of such record in its intermediate position,

Still another object of the present invention is; to provide an improved automatic record playing and changing apparatus adapted to repeat the playing of one side of a record indefinitely.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic record playing and changing apparatus arranged so that the playing of any side of record may be discontinued at will.

A further object of the present invention is to provide improved automatic record playing and chan in apparatus arranged so that the playing of the upper side of a double face record may be discontinued at will without interfering with the subsequent automatic playing of the underside of such record in a machine in which records are fed by gravity onto a turntable.

Another object of the present invention is to provide improved record playing and changing apparatus adapted to be used in a radio phonograph combination, that is to say, either in .a direct circuit with a radio set or equipped with an oscillator unit cooperable with a radio set, or alone as record playing and changing unit.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a simple fool proof, sturdy, compact and inexpensive mechanism in a record changer for playing both sides or one side as the case may be of a stack of indiscriminately arranged records of different diameters.

Another object of the present invention is to provide improved record changer apparatus so arranged that upon the completion of the playing of a stack of records, the tone arm is positioned so as to not replay any one of such records in the stack.

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention itself, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following descripticn taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a plan view of a record changing and playing apparatus incorporating the'present invention, a record being shown in an interme: diate position supported for rotation on the movable boom structure l l for playing the underside of such record,

Figure 2 is a view in side elevation of a portion of the apparatus shown in Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in Figure 1 but with the boom structure I I latched in its retracted position to thereby pro vide single sided record playing and with the record clamping arm l3 moved to its retracted position,

Figure 4 is a plan view of the underside of the apparatus shown in Figure l but with parts in their relative positions when the topside of a record is being played on the turntable In,

Figure 5 is a sectional view partly in elevation taken substantially on the line 55 of Figure 4 but with the corresponding parts of their relative positions when the underside of a record is being played,

Figure 6 is a sectional view showing some of the parts or" Figure 5 on a line corresponding to line 5-5 of Figure 4;. but with the parts in their relative positions when as in Figure l a record is being played on the turntable Ill,

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken substantially on line l-? of Figure 4 but with the cam I IQ of Figure rotated 180 from the position shown therein,

Figure 8 is sectional view taken substantially on line t-t of Figure l of some of the elements of the apparatus of Figure 1,

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 3-5 of Figure 5,

Figure 10 is a sectional view corresponding substantially to the sectional view shown in Figure 6 but with some of the correspondin parts in their relative positions when the tone arm is being adjusted at its correct radial distance for playing a twelve inch record,

Figure 11 is a detailed sectional view of a portion of the tone arm lifting mechanism,

Figure 12 is a detailed view in elevation of a portion of the mechanism for adjusting the position of the tone arm when the underside of a record is being played,

Figure 13 is a detailed View of the upper portion of the record supporting spindle 3 shown in Figure 1, and

Figure 14 is a schematic circuit diagram of mechanism for effecting a so-called reject operation.

Briefly, the invention concerns itself with an automatic record playing and changing mechanism in which records in turn are allowed to gravitate from a storage magazine to a turntable where the upper sides of such records may be played after initially being arrested and rotated in an intermediate position wherein the underside of such records may be played. Thus, both sides of a record may be played or at the option of the operator the record changer apparatus may be adjusted for single side record playing by retracting the means which hold the record in the intermediate position mentioned. Also, the apparatus may be adjusted for so-called manual operation.

Records of and 12" diameters are fed by gravity from a stacked position above the turn.- table to the turntable by a structure similar in many respects to the structure shown and claimed in the copending application of Kurt Emde and Ralph Mullaney, S. N. 639,037 filed January 4, 1946. That is, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a stack of mixed 10" and 12" records are threaded on the upper end I, 2 of an offset spindle having the general reference character 3. The periphcry of the center hole of the bottommost record rests on the spindle shoulder 4 and the outer periphery of the bottommost record rests upon the resilient elevated pads 5, 6 mounted on the stationary shelf 7 from where such bottommost record is allowed to slide by gravity down spindle 3 after being shoved off of such pads 5, 6 by the oscillatory pusher plate 8 which is oscillated during the record changing cycle by means described later.

After the bottommost record is moved from its supporting position on spindle shoulder 4 by movement of pusher plate 8 it slides by gravity down the curved portion 9 of the spindle either onto a conventional type of turntable II! where its upper side is exposed for playing or onto a retractible boom structure I l where its under side is exposed for playing. Such boom structure I I carries at its free end two rotatable record engaging rollers I2, I3 of Bakelite material and a driven record engaging roller Id of relatively soft material for supporting and driving a record in an intermediate position between its stacked position on pads 5, 6 and its ultimate position on turntable ID. The roller H3 is driven by means described later and the boom structure II upon which it is rotatably mounted may be retracted in a manner described later to allow single side record playing on the turntable IEJ alone.

The boom structure I I may be retracted manually to a permanent position wherein it does not arrest the movement of a falling record when the apparatus is adjusted for single side playing or it may be retracted automatically after the underside of a record is played to allow the upper side to be played on the turntable II) when the apparatus is adjusted for playing both sides of a record.

The shelf I comprises a U-shaped frame member having one leg portion fastened to base plate I5 and the pads 5, 6 are mounted on the upper surface of the other leg portion of the U.

Pusher plate 8 having a raised portion 8A integrally formed thereon for suitable engagement with a 12" record is oval in structure and is arranged to slide on the upper portion of the U-shaped shelf frame by oscillatory movement imparted thereto by the pusher plate shaft I6 which is fastened at one of its ends to an end of the oval shaped pusher plate. The shaft I6 is journalled in the two spaced leg portions of the U-shaped shelf member I and is inclined at a small angle of about 4 degrees with respect to the vertical. The other end of the pusher plate shaft I6 extends below the base plate I5 and has mounted thereon a driving lever plate I! (Fig. 4) for imparting an oscillatory movement to the pusher plate. The permissible oscillatory movement of plate I! is limited by the pair of spaced stop pins IB mounted on the upper portion of the U-shaped shelf member in the path of movement of the pusher plate 8.

The retractible boom structure II is formed in part of an elongated boxed frame member I9 in opposite ends of which is journalled a driving shaft 20 having mounted on each end thereof resilient rollers I l, 2|. One end of such boxed frame member I9 is attached to a channel member 22 which in turn is fastened to a vertically rotatable shaft 23 journalled in the spaced legs of U-shaped bracket 24 which is fastened to base plate I5. As shown in Fig. 3 the driving roller I4 extends upwardly through an opening in the decorative boom structure housing 25 for driving engagement with a record while the two rotatable record supporting rollers I2, I3 having harder material on the periphery thereof than the peripheral material of roller I l are mounted for rotation on the frame member 26 fastened to the free end of the boxed frame member I 9. The three rollers I2, I3, I4 are so mounted that when boom II is in the position indicated in Figs. 1 and 2 their axes of rotation intersect substantially at a common point corresponding to a point on the axis of the vertical downward portion 2'! of spindle 3. The frame member 26 has a reentrant portion 28 within which the straight downward spindle portion 21 may enter to allow coincidence of the point of intersection of the axes of rotation of rollers I2, I3, I4 with a point on the axis of the spindle portion 21. A resilient pad 29 is afiixed to project within such reentrant portion 28 to take up shock forces when the boom structure I! is swung into position in engagement with the straight downwardly extending spindle portion 2! under the influence of tension spring 30 which has one of its ends fastened to the channel member 22 of the boom structure and its other end fastened to the U-shaped shelf member 1 thereby to normally bias the boom structure I l toward the spindle 3.

The boom structure II may be latched manually out of the path of ejected records by a latch mechanism described presently. One important feature of this latch mechanism is that the boom structure may be latched out of its normal spring biased position against spindle 3 only by manipulating the manual control knob 31 shown in Fig. 2; otherwise the boom structure H might become latched when it is not intended to become latched, for example, when the boom structure is moved by the record changer mechanism when the changer is conditioned for playing both sid of a record.

The latching control knob 3! is fastened to a shaft 33 sleeved and journalled within the vertical shaft 23. The bushing 32, secured to shaft 33, has'integrally formed therewith a finger 34 arranged to engage and move the boom structure ll outwardly against the force of tension spring 39 when control 31 is rotated in one direction. When the control 3! is rotated in the opposite direction, an integrally formed cam 35 on bushing 32 is effective to engage the projection 35 on latch member 31 to move it out or" latched position, shown in Fig. 3, wherein the latch member projection 38 is held biased behind the toothed projection 39 on the boom structure H, by the action of tension spring 48. The latch member 3'! is pivotally mounted on the U-shaped bracket Ed by means of shoulder rivet M and one end of the tension spring 44) is fastened to an appropriate end of latch member 3? with the other end thereof fastened to the shelf brac et l thereby to bias the latch projection in the direction of the boom projection 39. When the boom structure is in its normal position against the spindle 3 or when the boom structure I! is being moved by the changer mechanism described later the latch projection 36 is biased within the slight reentrant portion :32 between the finger 34 and cam 35 on the bushing thereby preventing engagement between the latch projection 38 and boom projection 35. Consequently, movement of the control knob Si is necessary to produce relative movement between the independently movable bushing 32 and the latch 37 to allow latching of the boom structure in its position out of the path of a freely falling record.

The boom structure ll is also moved to its retracted position upon movement of the spring biased record clamping arm 43 of substantially the same structure shown and claimed in the above mentioned copending application of Kurt Emde and Ralph Mullaney.

The rotatable spring biased arm 43 serves to maintain stacked records in suitable position on the shelf pads 5, 6 for displacement therefrom by the pusher plate 8. For this purpose, the spring biased arm 13 having a rubber record engaging surface it is pivotally mounted by means of pin 35 having its opposite ends fixedly mounted in opposite walls of a U-shaped guide bearing member $5. the lower end thereof on stationary frame menu her s? by utilizing the bottom surface of meinber as as a bearing surface and by passing a screw or rivet 5-8 having an enlarged head upwardly through an opening in frame member 4? into a suitable holding recess in member 45. The stationary frame member ll, fastened to shelf bracket 1, provides an opening through which pusher plate 8 may revolve and is fastened by means of screws or the like to the record sup porting shelf 1.

The free end of arm :23 is biased downwardly in all positions thereof by a pair of tension springs as, 5E3, each of which has one end thereof looped over a common pin 5! stationarily mounted in the rearward extension 52 of arm 43. The other ends of springs 59, 56 are looped respectively over different pins 53, 54 stationarily mounted in oppositely disposed portions of U- shaped member 46.

The stationary frame member 41 has extending upwardly therefrom a pair of separated stop members 55, 56 which form an elongated slot 5'! (Fig. 3) in which a guide extension 58 is confined when arm 43 is positioned to bear on Member id is pivotally mounted at the record. After all of the records initially stacked on oifset shoulder 4 are dropped therefrom onto the turntable H! or the boom structure H, as the case may be, rivet 59 held in opposite walls of bearing member at and passing through an arcuate slot Gil in arm 43, limits downward movement of arm 43 by engaging one end of slot 86. In similar fashion rivet 59 engages the opposite end of slot 66 to limit upward manual movement of arm 43 against the action of tension springs 49, 59.

In order to move arm s3 out of the path of movement of records which are to be removed either from offset shoulder or from the turntable i0 arm E3 is pivoted upwardly and then rotated counter-clockwise (Figure 3) to a position wherein an elevated projection of the stop limits further rotational movement f arm 43. In order to return the arm at from its retracted position to its normal record engaging position, it is necessary only to rotate arm 33 clockwise to a point where arm extension 53 engages the stop member 55, whereupon the tension exerted by springs 55, 5d automatically causes the arm extension 58 to enter its normal position in the slot 5?. With reference now to Fig. 1, the m tatable record stack holding arm :33 has formed thereon at its base a gear wheel 6! which meshes with the gear 62 rotatably mounted on the upper face of bracket 57 by means of a shoulder screw the gear 52 in turn being in meshing engagement with the gear es attached on one end of vertical shaft t5 (Fig. 2) which is journalled for rotation in spaced ears of bracket ll. The other end of shaft 65 has aiiixed thereon a finger it cooperatively associated with the boom structure projection ii'i to thereby cause outward movement of the boom structure it away from spindle 3 upon manual movement of the stack holding arm as from its position wherein it holds a stack of records in clamped position to its retracted position wherein loading of the record changer with records is facilitated. The tension spring Be? is of insuificient strength to move the record clamping arm 33 from the retracted position. When the arm 43 is moved manually from such position, the boom structure H returns to its normal position against spindle 3 unless, of course, it is held latched due to prior manual operation of the control knob 3L.

Provision is made whereby 10" and 12" records may be played intermixedly. For this purpose, the spindle 3 has a portion 8 of reduced cross section inclined upwardly towards the shelf member I and has what may be termed a, gooseneck appearance. The records are normally supported in stacked position above the turntable at an angle of approximately 5 to 6 degrees and preferably 5 /2 degrees with respect to the horizontal plane. A tilting of the stacked records upwardly from the supporting shelf '5 is desirable because, inter alia, the upper right edge of a stack of records is then practically at the same vertical height as the highest point on arm 33 with a result that the composite record changer with stacked records is of minimum height and may be placed in a relatively small space within, for example, a radio cabinet to form a part of the radio phonograph combination.

The upper portion l, 2 of the spindle 3 may be of the type and structure shown and claimed in the above mentioned application of Kurt Emde and Ralph Mullaney. Preferably, however, the spindle structure shown in such copen-ding application is modified. That is, as shown herein,

the spindle member I is pivotally mounted on the cooperating spindle member 2 at its upper end on a pin 63. Spindle member I has affixed on its inner side a cantilever type of leaf spring 69, the free end of which is arranged to abut the stop pin Ill thereby to normally bias the free end of the spindle member Iaway from the opposite side of cooperating spindle member 2. In contrast to the structure shown in the above mentioned copending application of Kurt Emde and Ralph Mullaney the spring 69 does not extend beyond the free end of spindle member I but the spring terminates at a point within the hollow semi-circular portion of the spindle member I so that the spring member 69 is not exposed for engagement with a record which is being removed either from the turntable It or from the boom structure I I, as the case may be. In order, however, to suitably feed records of different diameters from the spindle shoulder l satisfactorily and without dropping more than one record at a time a friction member II, for example, of soft rubber or the like is held in inserted position in the spindle 3 so as to project slightly upper beyond the upward surface of spindle shoulder 4 which is of metal. By thus providing this friction member H for engagement with the bottommost record of a stack of records no difficulty arises in feeding records of different diameters from the shoulder 4 onto the turntable or boom structure as the case may be. Without this particular friction means and in the absence of a spring projecting from the free end of spindle member I there is some likelihood that when a record is stacked immediately above a 12" record the 10 record will be discharged from the spindle shoulder 4 simultaneously with the 12" record. Inasmuch as it appears undesirable to have a spring member projecting from the free end of the spindle member I in the path of records which are being removed from the turntable or the boom structure II, as the case may be, it is preferred, as shown herein, not to expose the spring member 63 as shown in the copending application of Kurt Emde and Ralph Mullaney but instead to provide the friction member or pad II at the spindle shoulder I.

The spindle 3 may be rotated about its axis from its normal position wherein it is arranged to support a stack of records to a second position approximately 135 degrees away from such normal position wherein in such second position the removal of records from the turntable or boom structure is facilitated. The normal record supporting position of spindle 3 is shown in full lines in Figure 3 and such second position of spindle 3 is shown in dotted lines in Figure 3. For this purpose, with reference to Fig. 5, spindle 3 is journalled for limited rotational movement in the hollow portion of the center turntable shaft I2 journalled for rotary movement in the downwardly extending sleeve I3 which in turn is fixedly mounted below and on the base plate I5. In order to assure predetermined positioning of spindle 3 in the two positions mentioned above the lower end of spindle 3 is arranged to coopcrate with a combination stop and detent structure afiixed on the lower end of sleeve member I3. That is, the horizontal pin M fastened through the lower end of spindle 3 is spring biased by means of compression spring I5 disposed between a shoulder it on spindle 3 and the circular stop and detent plate i7 into either one of the two pairs of detents f8, I9 (Fig. 4) in the bottom of such circular plate i2. Also, in

' frame member 92.

order to limit rotational movement of the spindle 3, the circular plate I! has extending downwardly therefrom a pair of integrally formed stop projections 88 which are arranged to cooperate with the horizontal pin in the lower end of spindle 3. It is noted that the particular structure described allows easy removal and assembly of the center spindle 3 since in order to remove spindle 3 it is necessary only to remove the horizontal pin M which preferably is a drift pin. Furthermore, the circular plate I! also forms a bearing member for the lower end of spindle 3.

In order to facilitate the removal of records from either the turntable or the boom structure II, as the case may be, the spindle 3 is rotated 135 degrees to the dotted position shown in Figure 3 and then records are lifted manually upwardly. Since the uppermost record engages the spindle member I, it is automatically pivoted upwardly to form a prolongation of the cooperating spindle portion 2 and thus form a straight line path for the removal of records above the spindle shoulder *2. In order to limit the movement of the spindle portion I to a position wherein it does form a prolongation of spindle 2, the pivoted end of spindle portion I has a projection 3! (Fig. 13) formed thereon to cooperate with the stop pin stationarily mounted in the cooperating spindle portion 2.

The turntable Iii is driven in conventional manner by a driving motor 82 the shaft of which is arranged to frictionally engage the spring biased wheel 83 which in turn engages the rim of the turntable to drive the same. With referen-ce new to Fig. 5, the turntable itself is press fit onto the upwardly extending turntable shaft ?2 which as mentioned is journalled for rotation in the sleeve member I3 stationarily mounted on and below the base plate I5. A gear 84 affixed to shaft ':'2 is in registry with a window 85 in sleeve member 73 and is arranged for driving cooperation with a mutilated gear 86 and auxiliary gear part 87 thereof on the record changer mechanism proper as discussed in more detail later.

The driving motor 82 serves to driv the turntable IQ and also the mutilated gear 86 of the record changer proper. Also, as shown in Fig. 8, the driving motor 82 serves to impart rotary movement to the driving wheel I4 on the boom structure U by the mechanism described presently through the turntable II! wheel 83, shaft 533, wheel at, spool BI, wheel 2I, shaft 20 and then to wheel It.

For this purpose, the pair of rubber rimmed wheels 38, S0 journalled in frame member 92 are biased upwardly respectively through openings 83 and S4 in base I5 to engage respectively the motor driven turntable I9 and rotatable spool SI. This bias is provided by means of tension spring 95 having one end fastened to the base plate and the other end fastened to the free end of a pivotally mounted frame member 96 which in turn is pivotally mounted at the center of As shown in Figs. 3 and 8, frame member 36 is pivotally mounted on pin 27 which is journalled in spaced ears of bracket 58 mounted on the bottom of the base plate I5. The free end of frame member 95 is pivotally attached to the center of frame member 92 by means of a pin {-39 passing through spaced ears of frame member 5'6 and frame member 92 to thereby rovide an inexpensive self-aligning structure for maintaining automatically a good driving connection between the turntable I9 and spool 9, both of which rotate about vertical axes. That is, the structure described, since it allows automatic movement of the rollers 88 and 90 either together or singly into automatic aligned position by virtue of the fact that the axes of pivot pins Bl and 99 are disposed substantially 90 degrees with respect to one another, assures good driving connection between the turntable I and spool 9! even though parts manufactured in accordance with present day mass production methods become worn in extended use.

The spool SI is journalled for rotational movement on the vertical shaft I539 having its ends secured in spaced ears of the bracket 24 secured on the base plate I5. The distance between the ears of bracket 24 exceeds the length of spool 9| so as to allow slight vertical movement of the spool to assur good driving connection not only between the metal spool 9| and the rubber rimmed driving wheel 99 but also between the metal spool s: and the rubber rimmed driven wheel 24 journalled on the boom structure II. That is, spool 9| is provided with a slight amount of end play to assure the transmission of forces developed by tension spring 95 from the spool 9| to the driven wheel 2| to thereby assure a good driving connection therebetween.

Th driving connection between metal spool 9i and boom wheel 2 exists only so long as the boom structure II is in position against spindle for playing both sides of a record, as seen in Fig. 3, spool at and boom wheel 2| are out of engagement when th boom structure is in its retracted position. It is thus evident that the end play provided in spool SI allows also breaking and remaking of a good driving connection between the spool 9i and boom wheel M.

It is thus apparent from the structure thus far described that the spool 51 rotates anytime the turntabl lil rotates but the record driving wheel M on the boom structure is rotated only when the boom structure I I is in position against the spindle 3 and, of course, when the turntable is being rotated.

Th mutilated gear {36, shown in Fig. 9, is rotatably mounted on the free end of the base plate pin It] and serves to impart movement to the record changer apparatus from the energy in the continuously movable gear 84 afiixed at the bottom of the ccntinuously rotating turntable shaft I2. A record changing cycle is initiated upon allowing the spring biased supplementary gear portion a! mounted on the mutilated gear to engage with the turntable gear 84. That is, during the record laying cycle the mutilated portion of th mutilated gear is directly opposite the continuously rotating turntable shaft gear 84 and the mutilated gear does not rotate until the spring biased supplementary gear portion 81 is allowed to move into registry with the continuously rotating turntable gear 34. This supplementary gear portion 8'! is pivotally mounted on the mutilated gear 85 by means of the shoulder rivet Hi2 and is biased in a direction to fill in the mutilated region of the mutilated gear 86 by means of a tension spring Hi3 having one of its ends attached to a pin [M on the mutilated gear and its other end attached to an extension Hit of the supplementary gear portion 81. The extension M35 is curved to cooperate with the mutilated gear hub I'M to provide a stop whereby the teeth on supplementary gear portion 81 which ar identical with those of the mutilated gear 86 are held in operative position by spring pressure in registry with and on the same circumference defined by the teeth on the mutilated gear 85. This supplementary gear portion 81 is essential for initiating a record changing cycle and may be held out of such operative position by one of two means, namely, either the automatically operated record changing lever I07 or the manually operated record changing lever I08. The automatically operated lever Iii! is intended to engage the supplementary gear extension I89 to thereby block movement of the supplementary gear portion to operative position while for the same purpose the pivoted manually operated lever I08 engages the pin H9 carried on the extension I09.

With reference to Fig. 7, in order to adjust the record changer for either so-called manual or automatic playing of records the manual control knob III is moved to either one of its two corresponding positions. This control knob is attached to one end of lever I08, whose function is described above, to produce the desired positioning of such lever I08. The lever I08 is fulcrumed at a point substantially midway between its ends on base plate bracket I I2 through which it passes. In one position of the control knob III corresponding to Manual position the free end of lever I08 maintains the supplementary gear portion 81 out of its normal position to thereby prevent the initiation of a record changing cycle. In the other position of the control knob corresponding to Automatic position the free end of lever L08 does not interfere with the movement of the supplementary gear portion 8'! and it is allowed to enter into registry with the gear teeth on the mutilated gear 86 under the influence of its biasing spring 33 to thereby be in position for initiating an automatic record changing cycle by the means described later.

The other lever III! which also controls the position of the supplemental gear portion 81 for initiating a record changing cycle is operated either (1) by a solenoid I I3 energized through the reject electrical switch H4 of Fig 14, (2) by the rod I I5 attached to the boom structure I I or (3) by the tone arm extension H6.

The lever III! is pivotally mounted on the pin II I secured on the base plate bracket H2 in such a manner that the end adjacent the supplementary gear portion 81 is gravity biased in a normal downward position where it is effective to block movement of the supplementary gear portion 81. Thus, lever IIJ'I normally maintains the record changing mechanism inoperative.

The lever I01 may be moved from its normal gravity controlled position by energizing the solenoid I I3 mounted on the base plate I5 thereby to magnetically attract upwardly that end of lever IIII adjacent the supplemental gear portion 81. Such displacement of lever I 01 allows movement of the gear portion and initiation of a record changing cycle. Solenoid H3 is connected in a series circuit with the source plug H8 and the reject switch H4 and is of course energized by closing such reject switch I I 4 which may be situated at some convenient place, for example, on the control panel of a radio phonoe graph combination.

Also, as shown in Figs. 4 and 7, lever It! may be moved by movement imparted to the rod I I5 attached to the boom structure II. Such movement may be imparted to rod I I5 in either one of two ways such as by moving the boom structure II to retracted position (corresponding to one sided record playing) to position the straight or free end portion of rod H5 in the path of 84 after one complete revolution.

movement of the cooperating rotatable cam structure H9 which engages rod H5 and displaces this rod together with lever I31 vertically to allow initiation of a record changing cycle and incidentally to cause one revolution of the one-half revolution gear H20 in a manner described in more detail later. Alternatively, movement may be imparted to rod II5 by moving the boom structure manually when a record is resting thereon thereby automatically initiating a record changing cycle to clear the machine in case the record initially supported by such boom structure falls on the tone arm.

Also, as seen in Fig. 7, the gravity biased lever I31 may be moved into position corresponding to record changing position by the tone arm extension II3 carrying on the free end thereof a pivotally mounted egg shaped rubber clutch member I2I arranged to cooperate with the smooth surfaced portion I22 of lever I31. The lever I! is displaced in response to outward movement of the tone arm, for example, when the tone arm stylus travels in the oscillatory end groove of a record. That is, the rubber clutch member 2| and lever portion I22 form a one-way clutch with member I2I sliding over surface I22 during inward travel of the tone arm while member I2I becomes wedged between elements I0! and IIS causing coupling engagement between the two parts when the tone arm is moved outwardly after travelling a slight distance inwardly on a record. Also, it is noted that there is attached to the end of lever I07 a structure having an inclined edge I23 in the path of movement of the tone arm extension I It to cause sufiicient movement of the lever I01 to initiate a record changing cycle when the tone arm has moved inwardly a distance too close to the centering spindle 3. That is, the lever I0! is moved to allow initiation of a recordv changing cycle either (1) when the tone arm stylus travels in the end oscillatory groove of a record or (2) when the tone arm moves inwardly a predetermined distance determined by the position of the cam structure I23 which may be ing I26 rotatably mounted on the base plate I5. Inasmuch as the ratio of the diameter of the mutilated gear 86 to the diameter of the gear I20 is in the ratio of 1 to 2 and since but three teeth of the gear 86 (Fig. 9) are missing, the driving connection between the gears 83 and I20 during one complete revolution of the driving mutilated gear 86 is continuous. During a record changing cycle the mutilated gear makes but one revolution when the machine is adjusted to play both sides of a record inasmuch as the end I21 of lever I01 blocks the supplementary portion 8'! away from the turntable shaft gear When the machine is adjusted for playing but one side of a record by moving the boom structure II to retracted position the lever I0"! is tripped by resulting movement of the rod H as described above and a second record changing cycle is initiated with the result that when the machine is adjusted for single side record playing the mutilated gear 86 automatically makes two revolutions and the gear I makes one revolution for each record.

The one-half revolution gear I20 has mounted thereon, in addition to the cam structure H9 mentioned previously for automatically initiating a second revolution of the mutilated gear 36, a cam track I23 for actuating a portion of the record diameter meter or record discriminator mechanism described later, a pair of diametrically opposite pins I29 and I30 for swinging the tone arm outwardly during the record changing cycle, a crank pin I3I for imparting motion to automatically adjusted link I32, and a pin 133 for actuating a member I34 forming a part of such link I32. It is noted that the cam structure I53 and cam track I23 are disposed on the same or upper side of gear wheel I20, substantially diametrically opposed and the diameter joining them is substantially perpendicular to the diameter joining the two pins I23 and i30 on the other side of the gear wheel I26.

The link I32 connected between crank pin I3I and the lever plate I! imparts to the connected pusher plate shaft I6 an oscillatory movement through an angle of approximately degrees, the pusher plate shaft moving approximately 110 degrees in one direction during one-half of one revolution of gear I20 and approximately 110 degrees in the opposite direction during the sucseeding one-half of one revolution of gear I20.

It is important to note that the connected pusher plate 8 shoves the bottommost record of a stack off the spindle shoulder 4 only once per complete cycle of the pusher plate shaft I6 or in other words upon one complete revolution of the one-half revolution gear I20.

The connecting link I32 extending from the crank pin i3l on the gear I20 to the lever plate i'i has a lost motion slot I33 in which .the crank pin i3! is allowed to slide. The effective length of slot I36 is automatically adjusted during the record changing cycle by means of the spring biased closure plate I34 and the cooperating pin 533 mounted on the gear I20 so as to produce the desired oscillatory movement of pusher plate shaft 53. The closure plate I34 is pivotally mounted on the link I32 by means of pin I31 and has its stop projection I33 normally pressed into engagement with the body portion of the link by means of tension spring I33 having one end thereof hooked around a pin I40 on the link I32 and its other end hooked around a spring terminal on member I34. In the normal position of plate I34, represented in Fig. 4, the length of slot I33 is restricted considerably to thus provide only a relatively limited lost motion connection between the pin [SI and the link I32. But, during a portion of the cycle of revolution of the gear I20 the closure plate extension I35 is engaged by the pin I33 and the closure plate I34 is then moved out of its normal position to uncover and effectively lengthen the lost motion slot I36 thereby to provide a relatively greater amount of lost motion between the crank pin I3! and the link I32. In that portion of the revolution of gear I20 in which the closure plate I34 is in its normal spring biased position it serves as an abutment for the crank pin I3I to impart thrust forces to the link I32 In addition to imparting movement to the pusher plate shaft I6 the link I32 serves also to impart movement to the one-way spring biased clutch element I4I which is instrumental in moving the boom structure away from its normal spring biased position against the spindle 3 thereby to allow a record initially supported thereon to drop onto the turntable. For this purpose, the one-way clutch element MI is pivotally mounted for one-way movement on lever plate I! by means of shoulder screw I42 and is pressed into engagement with the lever plate projection I43 by means of tension spring I44 having one of its ends attached to the lever plate I! and its other end attached to the end of the clutch member MI. The other end of member I4I is arranged to be swung into engagement with the crank pin I45 mounted at the end or the boom shaft 33 on the lever plate 33.

The one way clutch member MI is mounted on the pusher plate shaft I6 which as mentioned previously oscillates through an arc of approximately 110 degrees. The boom crank pin M5 in its normal position, when the machine is adjusted for playing both sides of a record, is disposed substantially midway within the II de gree arc defined by movement of the one way clutch element I4I. During one half revolution of gear I20 the one way clutch element I ll is swung in one direction and in the succeeding one half revolution of gear I26 the one way clutch element is swung in the other direction. The one way clutch element I4I conjointly engages elements I43, I45 and moves the boom structure II outwardly in one of its movements and merely brushes past the boom pin I 15 in moving in the opposite direction. Hence, it is evident that the boom structure I! is initially deflected outwardly and allowed to return under the influence of tension spring 3t once per two revolutions of mutilated gear 86 but once per complete revolution of gear I20.

The tone arm and pickup shown and described herein is of the type shown and claimed in the copending application of Henry P. Kalmus, Serial Number 585,826, filed March 31, 1945, adapted to play the top or bottom side of a record. ihat is, as shown in Fig. 5, two pickup cartridges hit and I4! are mounted on the free end of the tone arm M8 and arranged to play respectively the top of a record on turntable I and the underside of a record when it is being rotated on the boom structure. Both of these cartridges are connected electrically in series in the same electrical circuit of the type shown in the above mentioned application of Kalmus so that either one or" the cartridges I45 and I4! may play a record without the necessity of electrical switching.

The particular tone arm used bears on either side of the record played with a minimum force and the lower cartridge I45 may be deflected upwardly out of harms way into the protective housing I49 of the tone arm whenever a large force is exerted thereon as described in such copending application of Henry P. Kalmus, for example, when in unusual circumstances a record is dropped on the tone arm after the boom structure is manually moved from its normal record supporting position to allow a record to fall onto the turntable.

The cartridges Hi6 and It! are maintained in desired spring biased position by spring I50 and although the cartridges are relatively free to move upwardly out of harms way when for example, the tone arm is dropped with more than usual force onto a record on the turntable, the downward movement of the cartridge I41 is limited to a relatively small distance so that the corresponding stylus needle II may be held upwardly against a record revolving on the boom structure. A particular feature of the present record changer described is that it allows the use of low mass pickups and tone arms which bear against a record with relatively small force.

The tone arm I48 is hinged about a horizontal l4 axis on the upper end of the rotatable tone arm bracket I52 at the point I53 and carries an abut ment I5 1 on its underside arranged to cooperate with the free end of a cantilever leaf spring I55 mounted on the vertically movable tone arm raising and holding pin I55 for the purpose of providin a tone arm movable in both the vertical and horizontal planes.

The tone arm supporting bracket I52 is fas on about a vertical axis preferably in an antiof jewel. bearings I58 and I59 at the ends of shaft I5? to allow ease of movement of the tone in horizontal plane. The tone arm vertical shaft I57 has aflixed thereon below the base plate I 5 and intermediate its ends the cam memher i it carrying the one way clutch member I21 described previously. The cam member IIE has the cam surface Ice arranged to be engaged by gravity positioned dog members I6! and IE2 (dc.-

scilc d later) to swing the tone arm inwardly and automatically adjust the starting position of the tone arm on a lo" crl2 record, as the case may Also, afiixed to the tone arm vertical shaft arranged to cooperate with two netrically opposed pins I28 and rec on the e-half revolution gear I28 to move the tone outwardly in the horizontal plane during the initial phase of a record changing cycle.

The gravity actuated dog members It! and I32 for adjusting the starting position of the tone arm on a 3.9" or 12 record are pivot-ally mounted at diametrically opposite positions on the onehalf revolution disc I53 which is afiixed on the arcuate-shaped cam surface I69 formed thereon to engage and move upwardly the tone arm lifting rod (Fig. 11) which is arranged to slide in the vertical bushing I'll fastened to the base plate I5. The bushing Iii has a slot Ill therein arranged to cooperate with the guide pin I72 on the rod its to maintain the cantilever spring I55 in oriented position with respect to the abutment I54 on the tone arm. It is thus evident that the cam surface I 69 on the disc I63 causes the tone arm to be raised to a position where it may play the underside of a record rotating on the boom structure II, in which case the cantilever spring E55 biases the tone arm upwardly and presses the stylus of cartridge it! lightly against the underside of the record.

Also, the rotatable disc I63 is provided with a downwardly recessed cam surface I73 diametrically opposed to the elevated cam surface I89 to allow the tone arm lifting pin I56 to fall by gravity into the recessed cam portion I'IS thereby to permit the stylus of the lower cartridge to fall onto and engage the upper surface of a record rotating on the turntable II].

As may be seen in Fig. 4, the disc IE3 has a :pair of diametrically opposed projections I'M and I ?5 on the periphery of the disc for releasing the tone arm brake member I76 during the record playing cycle. The spring biased brake lever member I I6 has one end thereof pivotally mounted on the underside of the base plate and its other end has aiiixed thereto a bralre shoe I'll which is arranged to be pressed into braking engagement with the tone arm shaft I! by the tension spring i'iil having one of its ends fastoned to the lever member IE6 and its other end fastened to the base plate ear lit. The brake lever member We has a projecting portion with a detent therein for engagement with the disc projections I'M and H5, the projections il and IE5 serving to move the brake lever member Il-S away from the tone arm 5? to release the brake and allow freedom of tone arm movement and concurrently to lock the disc I63 against rotation.

With reference to 5, the dog members I6I and H52 are automatically positioned during a record changing cycle to adjust the tone arm position at the starting groove of a or 12" record as the case may be. Normally these dog members IEI and I32 are subject to be held against the action of gravity by the plate E8! in a position where the dog ends I6! may engage the cam surface I69 on the tone arm extension IIE to adjust the tone arm starting position for a 10 record, but these dog members IGI and IE2 may be allowed to move downwardly by allowing the plate I8I to fall under the influence of gravity. The gravity actuated dog engaging plate I8i which is pivotally mounted on the base plate bracket I l2 and which is nor mally held against gravity by the record discriminator lever I83 disposed has a downwardly curved extension I82 in the path or movement of the upper cam member lid on the one-half revolution gear I25. Upon rotation of gear I20, cam I23 engages extension I83 to cause the dog plate ISi to be raised to a position where it may be automatically latched by the gravity operated record discriminator lever E82. Certain features of the record discriminator lever shown herein are shown also and claimed in the above mentioned copending application of Kurt Emde and Ralph Mullaney.

The record discriminator lever I82 has at its upper end a record engaging member i8 3 arranged to be engaged by only a 12" record when it falls in the region between the spindle shoulder i and the boom structure Ii. The

lever I82 is pivoted at a point intermediate its ends in such a manner that gravity forces acting thereon tend to rotate the record engaging member I34 towards the spindle 3 but such rotational movement is limited by engagement of the bottom end of lever E82 with the dog lifting plate liii. ihe bottom end of discriminator lever I82 is held in its normal position by engagement of the discriminator shoulder I65 with the undersurfaoe of plate ISI thereby maintaining dog plate i-Si' and the dog members IGI and I62, as they engage the plate, in raised position for adjusting the starting position of the tone arm to play a 10 record. As may be seen in Fig. 10, when the discriminator lever 822 is moved by a falling record the shoulder 185 no longer engages the plate I8! and it is allowed to fall thus nultaneously allowing the dog members IEI and it? to tilt. Descending movement of the plate [8: is limited due to engagement of the plate IS! with the lower discriminator lever projection E85. After the plate has been thus allowed to fall the plate Hit and discriminator lever E22 are restored to normal position upon rotation of the one-half revolution gear I28 which carries the plate repositioning cam I28 into engagement with the plate extension I83 thereby to raise the plate I8I to move it upwardly to a position wherein the discriminator shoulder I moves by gravity underneath the plate I8I to latch it in position. It is noted that this so-called recocking of the discriminator lever I82 and plate I8I occurs only once per revolution of the one-half revolution gear I29 or once per two revolutions of the multilated gear 86. This cyclic arrangement is of importance when the dog members I6I and 62 are allowed to fall into position for adjusting the tone arm for 12" records when a 12" record strikes the record discriminator I84 disposed in the path of a falling record between the spindle shoulder l and the boom structure II. The dog members I6! and I62 remain in this adjusted position for playing a 12 record when subsequently the record is dropped from the boom structure H onto the turntable I (3. Moreover, the record changer mechanism is so arranged that when a record is allowed to fall from the boom structure onto the turntable I0 there is no record moving from the spindle shoulder 4 to the boom structure so that in such case the record discriminator ISA is not moved.

The disc I553 also carries a third dog member I8? (Fig. 4) substantially identical in structure with the other two dog members ISI and I62 and on substantially the same circle of rotation, the third dog member I81 being displaced an angular distance of about 10 degrees from the dog member I62 and on the trailing side when the disc E63 is rotated during the record changing cycle. The function of this third dog member IS! in relation to the spring pressed plate I88 of Fig. 12 mounted on tone arm cam plate I i6 is discussed immediately below.

When the tone arm is positioned for playing a record on the turntable I& there is an inherent tendency for the tone arm to move inwardly in the direction toward the center spindle and no great difilculty is encountered in positioning or tracking the tone arm. However, when the tone arm is positioned for playing the underside of a record on the boom structure ii there is an inherent tendency for the tone arm to move outwardly in the direction away from the center spindle 3 and tracking difiiculties arise. In order to avoid such last mentioned difiiculties, the third dog member I81 and associated spring biased plate I88 are provided to overcome the tendency of the tone arm to move outwardly.

The spring biased lever plate 552; is pivotall; mounted by rivet 39 on the upper surface of one arm cam plate MS with one end I90 there- 0 extending beyond the cam plate projection and with the other end Iili forming a stop ember attached to one end of a tension spring W2 having its other end anchored on the tone extension plate H3. The spring biased lever plate I 58 in its normal position extends a slight distance beyond the cam edge I60 of the cam extension plate MS from where it may be pressed inwardly by any one of the three dog members IEl, I62 and I8! thereby providing a resilient abutment on the tone arm extension plate H8 for engagement with such dog members IiiI, I62 and I87. The third dog member I8? is immediately adjacent the cam Hill on the tone arm extension plate during the time the underside of a record rotating on boom structure I! is being played thereby providing a stop for objectionable outward movement of the tone arm. Before the third dog member I81 assumes its position wherein it serves as a stop for outward tone arm movement it strikes the spring biased plate I88 thereby imparting to the attached tone arm a reaction force for overcoming the inherent tendency of the tone arm to swing outwardly. This countering force continues after the tone arm is accurately positioned at the starting groove of the underside of the record supported on the boom structure and proper tracking is achieved.

Manual operation -he apparatus described herein may be conditioned for so-called manual operation by moving the control element III to the one of its two positions marked manual in which case the free end of the attached control rod H33 (Fig. 9) is moved to engage the supplementary gear pin H and move it and the supplementary gear portion 81 to a retracted position wherein it is ineffective to engage the continuously rotating turntable gear 85. Under these conditions, inasmuch as the mutilated part of the mutilated gear 86 is adjacent the turntable gear there is no energy transfer between these two elements and the mutilated gear, as well as the other record changing apparatus driven by such gear 86 remains stationary when the apparatus is conditioned for manual operation.

When the manual control element Iii is moved to its other position labeled Aut the free end of the attached lever I08 is moved out of the path of movement of the mutilated gear pin Hi Neglecting momentarily the effect of lever te l, this movement of element I08 allows tie mutilated gear to move to its normal spring biased condition filling in the mutilated portion of the mutilated gear 86 thus effectively rendering the mutilated gear 86 whole again. Under such conditions the mutliated gear and supplementary gear portion 8? are allowed to become operative to transfer rotary movement from the continuously rotating turntable gear to the record changer proper.

lli eehanism for automatically initiating the record changing cycle In order to initiate a record changing cycle the supplementary gear portion 81 must be allowed to move to its normal position in engagement with the turntable gear 84. The supplementary gear portion 81 is normally held out of engaging position with gear 84 by the pivoted tripping lever IE3! which may be tripped either by the solenoid H3 forming a part of the reject mechanism, by movement of the tone arm its to an extreme position or in a backward direction, or by the rod H actuated upon movement of the boom structure H.

Double-side record playing The record changer apparatus is conditioned for double sided playing by allowing the boom structure It to return to its normal spring biased position against the center spindle 3. Initially, the spring biased pivoted record clamping arm is rotated to the position indicated in Figure 3 to allow a stack of records to be supported at the center thereof on spindle shoulder 4 and at the periphery thereof on the pads 5 and (i.

boom structure H is moved out of its normal position to its retracted position simultaneously with manual movement of the record clamping arm 43 to its retracted position wherein it does not interfere with the loading of recis ords on the machine. If desired, since the boom structure II is automatically retracted, under these circumstances a single record may be threaded onto the spindle 3 and placed on the turntable H] either for manual playing or for automatic playing. Preferably, in operation of the machine a single record is placed initially on the turntable and the tone arm is manually positioned on such record when the machine is adjusted for either manual or automatic operation so that it becomes unnecessary to 010- erate the reject switch H4 in order to position a record on the turntable Ill. After a single record is threaded onto the turntable l0 and the remaining stack of records placed on the spindle shoulder i the record clamping arm is moved manually from its extreme stable retracted position to its second or clamping position wherein it is effective to exert some pressure on the stack of records thereby to maintain such stack of records in operating position with respect to the pusher plate 8 which is operated during the course of the record changing cycle. Simultaneously with movement of the record clamping arm 43 from its retracted position to its clamping position the arm 6% (Fig. 1) is withdrawn and the boom structure H is allowed to return to its normal position against spindle 3 unless prior thereto the boom structure was initially latched by operation of the control knob 3|, the operation of which serves to permanently latch the boom structure out of the path of a falling record. As mentioned above, the boom structure H is otherwise allowed to move freely when the changer is conditioned for playing both sides of a record.

After completion of the playing of the record initially placed on the turntable It, the record changing trip lever I8! is actuated either by reverse movement of the stylus of the tone arm traveling in a reverse direction or by moving too close to the center spindle 3. The actuation of lever I01 permits the supplementary gear portion 81 to engage the turntable gear 84 and cause one revolution of the one revolution mutilated gear and one-half revolution of the one-half revolution gear I20 during which time a record changing cycle is effected. During such onehalf revolution of the gear I20 the tone arm is initially raised by the vertical lift pin 156 as it is displaced from cam surface I13 to the upper surface of the one-half revolution disc I63 (Fig. 6). The tone arm is then moved outwardly due to engagement of the tone arm extension I64 with pin I 30 projecting downwardly from the one-half revolution gear; and, subsequently the tone arm is returned to the starting position of a 10" or 12" record, as the case may be, due to contact between the automatically adjustable dog members It! and N52 with the cam edge I60 of the tone arm plate H6. Also, during such onehalf revolution of gear I20 pusher plate shaft I 6, due to the connection therewith of the connecting link I32 (Fig. 4), is rotated in one direction to rotate the pusher plate 8 and thereby displace the bottommost record supported on the spindle shoulder 5. The displaced record falls onto the boom structure H upon which such record is rotated due to frictional engagement between the continuously rotating driving wheel l4 and the record. Under these circumstances the under side of the rotated record is exposed for playing by means of the upper stylus I 5| of double tone arm I48 which is spring biased upwardly due to leaf spring I55 bearing against its under side, in-

asmuch as at this stage the tone arm raising pin :53 rests on the elevated cam surface ace of the one-half revolution disc I63 (Fig. 5).

Then, after the completion of the playing ol the under side of the record rotating on the boom structure H, the record changer trip lever I0? is again tripped, as described previously, whereupon the one revolution gear 86 makes another revolution and the one-half revolution gear I26 makes a second one-half revolution to complete a full revolution. During such second one-half revolution of the one-half revolution gear I20 the connecting link I32 (Fig. 4) attached thereto and having a one-Way clutch element IGI mounted on the free end thereof engages and moves the boom crank pin I45 and boom structure II to its retracted position, thus allowing the record supported thereon to fall by gravity onto the turntable In or the stack of records already on the turntable. Also, during such second one-half revolution of gear I20 the tone arm is allowed to drop from its engaging position on the under side of the record since the tone arm lift pin I56 is no longer on the raised cam portion I89 of the disc I63. The tone arm is moved outwardly due to engagement of the tone arm finger I64 with the pin I29 and then later moved inwardly again after the record has fallen from the boom structure II to the turntable I0. The tone arm is moved in to the correct starting position of the record due to the engagement between the tone arm cam plate IIS and the do member IGI whose relative position on its supporting disc I63 remains the same as when the under side of such record was being played. During this second one-half revolution of the gear I20 a record is not fed from the spindle shoulder 4 but the pusher plate 8 is merely moved to a more advantageous position for subsequent displacement of a record during the next record changing period. Also, at' the completion of such second one-half revolution of gear I20 the tone arm lift pin I56 is allowed to fall onto the depressed cam portion I13 (Fig. 6) in the disc I63 thereby to allow the tone arm to fall into starting position'on' the record now on the turntable. In the interim of the second one-half revolution of gear I20 the boom structure II, since the boom crank pin I45 'is moved out of engagement with the one way clutch element MI, is free to return under the influence of its biasing spring 30 to its normal position against the spindle 3 where the boom structure I I is in position to intercept a record falling from the spindle shoulder 4.

It is noted that during such second one-half revolution of gear I20 a record does not fall through the space between spindle shoulder 4 and the boom structure I I so that, in any event, the position of the record discriminator element 282 is not altered.

It is thus evident that when and as records of a stack are fed one by one to the turntable, first the under side of such records is played on the boom structure I I and then later the top side of such records is played on the turntable It.

Single side record playing The apparatus is conditioned for single sided playing by manipulating the manual control knob I I is in its latched position for single sided playing the boom rod II5 (Fig. 4) has its end positioned for engagement with the cam member I I9 fastened onto the upper side of the one-half revolution gear I20 so that the rod at the completion of one revolution of the one revolution mutilated gear 86 is moved into tripping engagement with the record changer tripping lever I01 thereby to automatically initiate a second rotation of the mutilated gear. That is, when the boom structure II is moved to latched position for single sided record playing the so-called single revolution mutilated gear 85 makes two revolutions per record changing cycle while the socalled one-half revolution gear I23 makes one complete revolution per record changing cycle.

Inasmuch as the one-half revolution gear E20 makes one revolution per record changing cycle when the changer is conditioned for single sided playing it is evident that during each revolution of gear I20 a record may be displaced from the spindle shoulder 6 so as to allow such record to fall onto the turntable it]. For this mode of operation the discriminator element in? is still effective in each changing cycle to adjust the tone arm to correct initial starting position on a 10" or 12 record, as the casemay be. It is noted that during each one-revolution of the gear I29 the tone arm is moved outwardly twice and may have what might be termed a false" motion but, inasmuch as the tone arm is eventually placed in correct starting position on the record on the turntabla'no objection is encountered in practice in giving such false motion to the tone arm.

In order to change the setting oi the record changer from the setting where the one side of a stack of records is to be played to a setting where both sides of a stack of records is to be played it is necessary only to manipulate the control knob 39 in such a fashion as to release the boom latch to thereby allow the boom II to swing in normal position against the spindle under the influence of its biasing spring 30.

Reject mechanism In order to effect a so-callcd reject operation it is necessary only to close the normally open switch IIB (Fig. 14) which may for convenience be located on the control panel of a radio phono graph combination. Such normally open switch I IQ is serially connected with the terminals of the power plug H8 and the solenoid winding H3 mounted in magnetic relationship to the record changer trip lever I 81 which normally blocks the movement of the supplementary gear portion 87 to its otherwise normal spring biased engagement with the turntable shaft gear 84.

Upon energization ofthe solenoid 5 IS the record changer trip lever I01 is moved out of the path of movement of the supplementary gear portion 81 to allow it to engage the turntable shaft gear 8% thereby to initiate a record changing operation.

Throughout this specification reference is made to a one revolution shaft, gear, etc. as well as to a one-half revolution shaft, gear, disc, etc. By the use of these terms one revolution and onehalf revolution reference is made to the fact that the specific part referred to makes one or one-half revolution, as the case may be, each time the record changer trip lever H3? is actuated. Although some of the elements designated as a one revolution or one-half're'volution device may correspondingly make but one or one-half revo- 21 lution, as the case may be, to effect a record changing operation when the changer is adjusted for double side playing the corresponding device may travel twice that angular distance when the changer is adjusted for single side playing. This occurs since the record changer trip lever I! is actuated automatically by the rod I I attached to the boom structure I I when such boom structure is in retracted position corresponding to single side record playing. The trip lever ID! is actuated twice per record changing cycle when the apparatus is adjusted for single side playing. Therefore, the terms one revolution and onehalf revolution have reference to the angular distance which the specified part moves when the apparatus is adjusted for double side playing. In particular, when the machine is adjusted for double side playing the mutilated gear 86 makes one complete revolution and the gear I20 and disc I63 both make one-half revolution for a changing cycle. When the apparatus is adjusted for single side playing, the mutilated gear makes two complete revolutions and the gear I20 and connected disc I63 both turn an angular distance of 360 degrees during a record changing cycle.

The boom structure I I is so arranged that the driving roller I4 and idler rollers I2 and I3 journalled on the boom structure are arranged to support and rotate either a or 12" record by engagement therewith at the center ungrooved portion of the record. As mentioned previously, the idler wheels I2 and I3 are of Bakelite material while the rim of the driving wheel I4 has on its periphery a material, such as rubber, which is softer than Bakelite. By thus using a combination of hard and soft rollers on the boom structure the driving of a record after it has fallen on the boom structure is stabilized.

It is noted that the two spring biased rollers 88 and 90 mounted with two degrees of freedom not only serve to take up lost motion but also, due to the manner in which they are supported, these wheels suppress forces which otherwise would produce objectionable vibration of the driving roller I l.

Also, it is noted that when the changer is adjusted to play but one side of a record the tone arm has imparted thereto a false motion mentioned above. Specifically this false motion constitutes a movement of the tone arm inwardly and then upwardly (to a position where in double sided operation a record would be supported). In the remainder of the cycle thetone arm moves downwardly and then outwardly and subsequently returns and falls at the starting groove of a record supported on the turntable I9.

Also, the structure II has for convenience been referred to as a boom structure but the words record carriage are equally descriptive of the structure I I.

When the changer is adjusted for double side record playing the tone arm is automatically raised to and maintained in an elevated position where it normally plays a record supported on the movable carriage II at the completion of the playing of the last record on turntable ID. This feature does not allow the last side of a record on turntable II] to be played over and over again but gives a warning to the listener, because of the absence of sound, to the eifect that all sides of all the chosen records have been played once and once only.

While a particular embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without d'epart' ing from this invention in its broader aspects, and, therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

We claim:

1. In combination, in a record changer mechanism arranged to play either one or both sides of a phonograph record having a sound grooved portion and an ungrooved portion, means, including a movable record supporting and rotating structure upon which one side of a record is played, for playing both sides of a record, said record supporting and rotating structure being movable from an operative position wherein it is effective in playing one side of a record to an inoperative retracted position, said record supporting and rotating structure including rotatable record driving means arranged to engage and drive a record only at the ungrooved portion thereof, manually operated means for latching said supporting and rotating structure in retracted position, and means actuated upon operation of said manually operated means for automatically adjusting said first means to play only one side of a record.

2. The combination, in a record changer mechanism arranged to play both sides of a phonograph record having sound grooves and an inner area devoid of sound grooves, a pivoted boom structure having a plurality of rotatable means associated therewith for supporting and rotating a record in a first elevated position by engagement only with said inner circular area of the record, record reproducing means arranged to play said record in said first position, a rotatable turntable arranged to rotate the same record after playing in said first position in a second position below said first position, and means actuated upon the completion of playing said record in said first position for pivoting the entire boom structure out of record supporting position thereby to allow said record to fall by gravity onto said turntable.

3. The combination, in a record changer mechanism, arranged to play both sides of a phonograph record, a trip mechanism for effecting a record changing operation of the record changer mechanism, means for supporting a stack of records in an elevated position, a turntable upon which a record may fall in a path from said supporting means by gravity forces acting on such record, a movable structure positioned in an operative position in said path to intercept said record in an intermediate position when it falls to maintain it in supported position for playing the under side thereof, said movable structure being movable from said operative position to an inoperative retracted position, stylus means, actuated by the record changer mechanism to a position out of the path of a falling record, for playing the underside of a record supported on said movable structure, and means actuated upon movement of said movable structure from its operative position to its retracted inoperative position, when it supports a record, for operating said trip mechanism thereby to actuate the stylus means to said position out of the path of a falling record to thereby allow such falling record to fall onto the turntable.

4. The combination, in a record changer mechanism, arranged to play both sides of either a large or small diameter record, a horizontal turntable, means arranged to support a stack of records and to feed them one by-on'e onto said turntable by gravity forces acting thereon, movable record supporting and rotating means disposed between said feeding means and said'turntable and arranged to intercept a falling record, stylus means arranged to play the bottom side of a record when rotated on said record rotating means and to play the top side of 'the same record on the turntable when allowed to fall thereon, stylus positioning means actuated upon the completion of the playing of a record for positioning said stylus means vertically above the starting groove of the record to be played, said stylus positioning means including but one record discriminatorelement positioned in the path only of a falling large diameter record and actuated to correctly position said stylus means for playing both the bottom and top sides of the same record.

5. The combinatioirina record-changer mechanism, arranged to play both sides of a phonograph record, which is allowed to fall by gravity in a path from a first supported position onto a record turntable, a movable structure positioned in said path to intercept said record in an intermediate position when it falls to maintain it in supported position for playing one side thereof, said structure having at least onedriving wheel and at least one idler wheel mounted thereon for rotating said record, by contact of the rims of such wheels with the record, the diameters otsuch wheels being less than the distance between said intermediate position and said turntable, drive means for driving said driving wheel, the rim of said dri-vingwheel being of softer material than the material on the rim of said idler wheel to stabilize the position of the record on said structure.

6. The combination, in a record changer mechanism arranged to play both sides of a phonograph record, first'means for'suppor-ting a stacl; of records in an elevated position, a turntable in a lower position, movable record supporting means for supporting and rotating a record in a position intermediate'between said elevated and lower positions,-rnanually movable means arranged to press said stack of records against said first supporting means, and means actuated upon manual movement of the last mentioned means for simultaneously moving said movable record supporting means out of said intermediate position thereby to allow a record to be moved between said first means 'and said turntable without touching said movable-record supporting means.

'7. The combination, in a record changer mechanism arrangedto play either both sidesor one side of a record andhaving record supporting and feeding means for feeding-records one by one in a path onto the turntable, a trip mechanism arranged to start said record changer mechanism thereby to initiate a recor dchang ing operation, said mechanism including one-half revolution means arranged to rotate one h'alf revolution per record changing operation when said trip mechanism is actuated and "the-mechanism is adjusted for playing both sides of a record, automatically operable means arranged to stop movement of said mechanism after said one-half revolution means has rotated one-half of a revolution, movable-record supporting and rotating means movablefrom a retracted position out of said'record path intoan operativepo- 24 sition in said recordpath to interceptand rotate a record in an intermediate position, stylus 'eans actuated by said record changer mechanism and arranged to play one side of said record on said record supporting and rotating means and the other side of said record on said turntable, means arranged to hold said record supporting and rotating means in its retracted position, said record feeding means and stylus means being actuated upon rotation of said onehali" revolution means, and means actuated upon movement of said record supporting and rotating means from its operative position to its retracted position for tripping said trip mechanism at "the completion of a first one-half revolution of said one-half revolution means to allow a succeedin one-half revolution of such one-half revolution means thereby to adjust the record changing mechanism from its both side recordiplaying condition to its single side record playing condition. 8. In a record player of the central's'pindle'type, a mechanism for supporting a record disc in a horizontally disposed playing position and for rotating said record disc about said spindle comprising: a unitary carriage movable between an inactive position and said record playing position; a frame member supported in a horizontal plane at one extremity of said carriage and recessed to receive and be substantially coaxial with the spindle of said record player when said carriage is in said record playing position; a plurality of record supporting wheels rotatably supported by said frame member and, when said carriage is in said recording playing position, disposed angularly relative to said spindle with their uppermost surfaces conjointly determining a horizontally disposed supporting plane for said record disc; a mechanical driving system extending through said carriage and mechanically coupled to at least one of said wheels for driving said one wheel to rotate a record disc supported by said wheels about said spindle; means eiiective during operating intervals when said carriage is in said record playing position for actuatin said driving system; means for tracking one surface of a record disc supported and rotated by said wheels; and means responsive to the operation of said tracking means for moving, said carriage to said inactive position after playing of said record.

RALPH A. MULLANEY. KURT EMDE. HERBERT H. STEGLICH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,454,134 Nyquist May 8, 1923 2,043,789 Ansley June 9, 1936 2,063,199 Slater Dead, 1936 2,068,449 Downs Jan. 19, 1937 2,318,654 l/Vis'sner .May 1-1, 1943 2,355,790 Faulkner Aug. 15, 1944 2,374,080 Dale Apr. 17, 1945 2,435,264 Ansar Feb. 3, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 822,026 France Dec. '18, 1937 541,156 Great Britain Nov. 14,1941 111,950 Sweden l Sept.'26, 1944 

